Earlier this year, ABBYY announced the release of FineReader Server (FRS) 14 replacing their former ABBYY Recognition Server (RS) 4.x product while bringing many additional enhancements to the new product. Customers using Recognition Server with a current SMUA contract can upgrade the software at no additional charge in order to take advantage of the new product feature release stream in the FRS series. Product support for RS will be continued until some yet unannounced future date while customers take advantage of the new FRS product and migrate off of the legacy RS 4.x solution.

Comparing Recognition Server with the New FineReader Server

FineReader Server provides all of the existing features of Recognition Server 4.x, including the ability to extract text from pictures that was added during a previous release, PLUS many new features not available in the now legacy RS product. These features include:

​Remote Administration Console Works Outside of the Local Network

ABBYY recognized a need for companies that were running Recognition Server on cloud servers like Azure or Amazon AWS to be able to connect to these instances through the Internet without the need of connecting through something like Microsoft Terminal Services Client. FineReader Server now provides the ability for companies to connect to the remote administration console directly through the Internet. As with any application allowed through the firewall, care will need to be taken to restrict access. However, this will provide greatly simplified administration for FineReader Server instances running in the cloud.

Native 64-bit Support

FineReader Server 14 now provides a native, 64-bit installation. This provides companies with the capability of addressing much larger pools of memory.

​Support for New PDF Export Formats

PDF export formats in FineReader Server now include PDF/E (to meet ISO 24517-1)and PDF/UA (to meet ISO 14289). This makes ABBYY one of the first companies to adopt these export format standards.

FineReader Server detects whether the incoming PDF document already contains a high quality text layer and then skips the OCR recognition phase of the process for improved performance on these types of documents.

​Bookmark Preservation in PDF Documents

Existing PDF bookmarks are retained while processing within FineReader Server.

​Watermarking Functions for Image Stamping

Watermarking is provided in FineReader Server for the addition of an image or text stamp including a logo file. This complements the existing functions for adding page numbers and text stamps to headers and footers already available in Recognition Server.

​Text Redaction

Sensitive text can now be redacted either in the indexing or verification stations in FineReader Server.

​Manual Document Assembly

Documents can be assembled either in the indexing or verification stations. This means for example, if a document was split by a bar-code sheet and another page of the document was incorrectly placed in another location in the document, it can be dragged to the correct location. In addition, as in the Recognition Server product, pages can be inserted into the document through the scanning station.

​Text Editing on the Indexing Station

Text editing can now be done on both the verification station and also on the indexing station.

​Limited Automatic Indexing of Documents

Index values can be automatically populated by defining field regions on a document type and then applying recognition parameters to these field regions. This is perhaps most useful when a document is designed with this function in mind prior to the forms being circulated. Once the filled out forms are returned, these index values can be quickly extracted into FineReader Server saving time during the indexing phase. The process to configure the field regions is done simply by processing some sample documents of the type which you desire to perform the automatic indexing. From there, a field regions template XML file is created behind the scenes for subsequent import into the workflow configured for that particular document type.

Preprocessing Options to Improve Images for Better OCR Recognition

New options allow you to preprocess images and delete background color, suppress digital noise, and reduce errors that occur due to page deformation during scanning.

​Why Get the Free Upgrade (for SMUA Subscribers)?

​There are several reasons why it is worthwhile for current Recognition Server 4.x maintenance subscribers to upgrade to FineReader Server for free under the terms of their SMUA contract. Foremost is the fact that feature upgrades will no longer be added to Recognition Server. Although maintenance support will continue to be provided for Recognition Server in the near term, no new features will be released. Instead, any new features for this product will only be done within the FineReader Server application. Second, and this relates to the first point, customers who require any of the new features found in FineReader Server will not find these in Recognition Server. The Upgrade process from Recognition Server is easy and just involves exporting the existing workflow configurations, installing FineReader Server (even on the same server), importing the workflows, and then testing and adjustment of these profiles in order to take advantage of any new features desired. User Friendly Consulting will be glad to assist our customers and will provide the new license keys necessary for you to complete the process. Just schedule a time slot using the link below to get started.